


A Case of Need to Know

by Starkindler



Series: House of Fire BDSM AU [3]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - BDSM, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, past-Chin/Malia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-13
Updated: 2013-06-13
Packaged: 2017-12-14 22:10:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/841929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starkindler/pseuds/Starkindler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once they make it back to the office, Steve gets the low down on the situation with Chin from Kono.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Case of Need to Know

**Author's Note:**

> A timestamp that takes place just after 'You Were Meant for Me'.

The moment Danny and Steve walked through the door and Chin caught sight of the collar around Danny's neck, Steve found himself watching with amusement as Chin grabbed hold of Danny's arm and all but dragged him into his office, shutting the door firmly behind them.

 

Kono stepped up beside him and nudged him with her shoulder. "I take it things went well this weekend?"

 

"Very much so," Steve murmured. "I don't know how I managed to get so damned lucky."

 

"Must have been a very good boy in a past life, brah," Kono said with a chuckle. "We don't have a case yet, but I have a feeling last week's week-long reprieve is going to be the exception rather than the rule."

 

"I'll actually be kinda glad for that, too. As much as I appreciated the downtime after the funeral and the chance to get the office in order, if I had to sit around and do nothing all day long, I'd go insane."

 

"I think Danny would argue that you're already insane," Kono replied, and they both chuckled as they stared at the closed door.

 

"Should I worry about Chin continually running off with my sub and grilling him for details?" Steve asked her, smiling to let her know he wasn't really serious.

 

Kono chuckled. "Nah, he lives for this stuff. He doesn't like to show it, but everything that's happened the past couple of years really bothers him."

 

"How about you and I go out for some coffee, and we have a little story-time like we discussed the other day?" Steve asked.

 

She looked up at him for a moment and then nodded, and the two left Danny and Chin to entertain themselves while they headed down the street to the small coffee shop.

 

Once their drinks were in hand, they found a low wall, out of the way of pedestrian traffic, and sat down.

 

"Okay, talk to me, Kono. What happened with Chin? I don't believe he took that damned money, and apparently neither does _Lokelani,_ because he's kept his Courtesan mark in spite of what the HPD thinks. And who in their right minds would remove their collar from a Courtesan?"

 

Kono sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I know that no matter what those idiots in the HPD think, my cousin would never steal that money. But I also know that he knows who did, and he's covering for them. There are very few people he would take a hit like that for, so I think it was someone in the family."

 

She glanced over at Steve. "This stays between us...you can tell Danny, but it goes no further. Chin's got his reasons for covering, and we may not agree, but I won't have him dragged through the wringer again if I can help it."

 

"You have my word," Steve said, taking a quick look around to make sure no one else was nearby.

 

"The only one I can think of that he would cover for is our uncle. My aunt has been fighting cancer for some time, and it's very expensive for treatments. Insurance only covers so much. If he stole the money to help pay for her treatments..."

 

Sighing, Steve pinched the bridge of his nose. "That makes a lot of sense, actually. But doesn't the HPD record the serial numbers on each of the bills?"

 

"Funny thing, that. All the hard copies of the serial numbers mysteriously disappeared, and the HPD was hacked into and the electronic files erased," Kono said. "And Chin is very good with computers."

 

Steve snorted. "You can find some idiot kid who would hack into the HPD and erase data in exchange for a few grand. That doesn't prove anything."

 

Kono nodded. "Exactly. I don't know what went on with the _Lokelani_ investigation, but I do know that if Chin requested that their findings remained sealed, they would do so."

 

"And confidentiality of a pleasure house is more secure than that of the Catholic priests," Steve murmured. The only time that a pleasure house would ever break confidentiality was if there was undue imminent danger to another person from someone within their own house.

 

"My uncle doesn't have marks from the house, so that was never an issue. That they allowed Chin to keep his marks was very telling, and should have told the HPD something about that entire situation, but a lot of them are slow on the uptake and didn't want to admit that they were wrong."

 

Steve nodded and took a long gulp of his now-cooled coffee. "Okay, so what about the person who collared him?"

 

Kono's eyes flashed angrily. "Malia. She's a doctor at one of the hospitals here in Honolulu. I wasn't particularly fond of her when she started pursuing Chin, but he loved her, so I got over it mostly. I never did think she was right for my cousin, but it was his choice.

 

"When all of this went down with the PD, she started getting flack herself, because her sub was going down for being a thief. She lost some patients, some of the hospital staff started making comments about Chin and her relationship with him. Her work and reputation where getting hits, but it wasn't severe, and probably never would have been unless Chin had actually been arrested. I think that once the house investigation had gone through and his marks weren't removed, that things would have died down on that front at least, but before that happened, Chin offered to let her remove his collar and end the relationship, if that's what she really wanted, in order to save her career."

 

"And she took him up on it." Steve growled and swore under his breath as Kono nodded.

 

"That collar was off before Chin even managed to get the words out of his mouth. He took his things from their home and went straight to _Lokelani._ He didn't step out of the pleasure house for three months, and when he finally did, the investigation was done, and he still had his marks," Kono said, turning her head to look at Steve. "And in spite of knowing this, she still hasn't come back around. It's been well over a year...going on two, actually."

 

She sighed and looked back toward the street. "He likes to pretend it didn't bother him, but I know better. He may have offered, but I don't think he thought she would really do it, that she would choose her career over him. _Lokelani_ Courtesans are special, and collaring one of them is a damn big deal. I can't even begin to imagine the pain he went through, because he did love her so damn much."

 

Kono huffed and shook her head. "If I didn't love him so much and know it would hurt him even more, I'd go and find her and wring her damn neck. I hate her for what she did, to throw him away so easily. I may not have been her biggest fan, but I thought she really did love him. That's why I backed off in the first place."

 

"You're sure he didn't remove his collar himself?" Steve asked, because he had to. "If Chin had loved her that much, he might have done it to protect her."

 

Kono shook her head. "Don't tell him, but I was there. He had been at the house, getting yelled at by a couple of our relatives, the little shits, and then he'd left. I was worried about him, so I followed him home. It was a nice day so they had all the windows open, and I could hear what happened clearly. I never told him that I had heard everything, saw her remove his collar."

 

"Shit." Steve rubbed his palm across his forehead. "Okay, so definitely a landmine conversation I want to avoid." Then he looked at her curiously. "He hasn't looked for a relationship since then?"

 

"No. I mean, in the last few months, he's played now and again, but it's gonna take someone pretty damn special to get a collar around his neck again. She really did a number on his head. My only real consolation is when his name finally does get cleared, her reputation is going to take a major fucking hit when it comes out she unjustly removed the collar of a Courtesan, without any real proof. As of now, people think it was justified."

 

Of that, Steve had no doubts. "Did his entire family turn on him?" he asked. He couldn't imagine turning his back on a sibling or a cousin for something he so clearly didn't do. Then again, he as also smart enough not to fly off the handle and get all the facts before condemning someone.

 

Huffing, Kono rolled her eyes. "Most of them, yes. Some because they really believe he did it. Others because they don't want to anger the family and rely on their support. Living in Hawaii isn't cheap, in case you haven't noticed."

 

Steve snorted. "Yeah, I'm aware."

 

"Well, his parents fall into the 'we believe you're innocent but we need family support so we shun you' camp. I'd love to beat them with blunt objects until they came to their senses, but I figured the police academy would frown on that."

 

Steve laughed. "Yeah, no kidding."

 

"His brother, however, is an entirely different story. He doesn't live on the island anymore. He's a pretty extreme masochist, very unusual for our family, so he went to the _Libertine_ house located in San Francisco, and he met this hot little Dom named Martin Lorne. Took his collar as soon as he came out with a Consort mark from _Libertine,_ and joined Martin's household. Martin has another sub named Joshua. Gorgeous blond with blue eyes you could drown in. Wallows in pain. I've seen Martin and Josh exhibit, and there wasn't a pair of dry panties or a soft dick in the house when they were done." Kono gave him a sly look. "I pointedly don't go when he's exhibited my cousin on the island. Too weird for me."

 

Steve grinned. "I look forward to their next visit. So, he didn't side with the family?"

 

"Jae-Sun? Oh, hell no. He dragged his Dom and Josh back to Hawaii and proceeded to rip every family member he could find a new one, and then summarily disowned their asses, including his parents. Jay has a fiery temper when it finally gets ignited, and boy, they pissed him off. Chin and I are the only ones he'll talk to now. Even if by some miracle his name was to be cleared and the family accepted Chin back, I don't think Jay would be so forgiving. He's always adored his big brother, and it hurt him really bad when the family turned on Chin."

 

Steve nodded and then pulled her into a quick half-hug. "Thanks for letting me know. I don't want to hurt him if I can help it at all, and I needed to know the landscape. I'll be careful with him, and so will Danny. Can't wait to meet his little brother, though. Sounds like a little firecracker."

 

"More like a gigantic bottle rocket. Now let's get back before they notice we've been gone too long," Kono said, grinning at Steve as they stood up. "Don't want Danny thinking I ran off with his man."

 

"Knowing Danny, he'd probably be more affronted that I didn't let him watch," Steve said, grinning when Kono burst out laughing.

 

They stopped by the coffee shop a second time for teas for themselves and peace offerings for the two they'd left in the office, and then they headed back to work.

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note 2: Before anyone decides to yell, I like Malia. In fact, I adore her on the show, but this is an entirely different universe, and as a Domme in this universe, she would have grown up very different than she would in the normal H50 universe. While she may turn up later down the line as part of a subplot, she will never be a big part of this universe.


End file.
